Companies should ramp up their efforts in monitoring and reporting their biodiversity impacts rather than wait for a regulatory framework to be established, the EU lead negotiator for the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) has said.
During a webinar on Friday on the EU’s business and finance progress towards global biodiversity targets, Hugo Schally called on large businesses to step up and set their own targets in order to actively support the bloc’s transition towards nature positive.
“Target 15 and 16 of the GBF are not only about what regulators should do to actually ensure transparency and accountability, but also about what businesses are willing to do before the regulatory framework is in place,” Schally said.
“I think the EU is on a good course [in defining some of those frameworks], but I believe we also need to hear from businesses about the way they want to engage on those targets.”
Since the GBF was approved in 2022, companies and financial institutions have been increasingly asked to start measuring and reporting their impacts, dependencies, and risks on biodiversity.
Last year, the EU Commission adopted the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), a reporting standard that will be used by all companies subject to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
On a global scale, voluntary frameworks, such as the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) recommendations, and standards, such as the ISSB, are widely cited as playing a key role in ensuring national implementation of the GBF.
TARGETS
As Schally stressed, businesses must also show their support for GBF targets 10 and 14, which point out the need to enhance sustainable practices and mainstream biodiversity at every decision-making level.
“I think it would be good if at COP, or even before COP, businesses could indicate what they’re actually doing to meet those targets,” he said.
“We went to Nairobi clearly with the ambition to move forward on the monitoring, reporting and review framework,” Schally said, referring to the fourth meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s subsidiary body on implementation (SBI-4) that took place in Kenya over May 21-29.
“It’s important that all actors are united and actually push for progress towards the GBF goals by also demonstrating commitment in that regard.”
During its intervention, Schally highlighted the importance of developing innovative finance strategies that can engage businesses in protecting nature, including biodiversity credits, as outlined by target 19 of the GBF.
In January, an EU Commission-backed survey was launched to inform the EU debate on the voluntary use of biodiversity credits.
As of May 20, the survey had received less than a third of the expected responses, the consulting group responsible for the analysis told Carbon Pulse, with just 30 replies obtained compared to a minimum target of 100.
Companies and financial institutions, for their part, have repeatedly asked that governments put in place measures to steer the private sector’s efforts.
During the last few months, several organisations encouraged the development of globally recognised standards for nature and biodiversity disclosure in order to incentivise companies to take action.
By Giada Ferraglioni – giada@carbon-pulse.com
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